


Ashes

by gypsiangel



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Gen, Original Female Character - Freeform, apparently this is a Mary Sue fic :), bad language, this is a Hannibal fanficion so there'll be some ick, violence and bloodshed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2014-11-24
Packaged: 2018-02-26 10:07:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2648051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gypsiangel/pseuds/gypsiangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will Graham had never met anyone like Quinn Bloom-McAllister, and Quinn insists that the world is lucky that there's only one of her. Hannibal's torn between liking her and wanting to kill her.. you know... the usual.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! :D Hope you guys like reading this as much as I liked writing it. Feedback is always welcome.

*~*~*~

            The trees were glistening with the drops of dew clinging to their leaves, the ice forming slowly as she watched from the living room window. All of the lights were out in the tiny house at the end of the street and she was the only one awake. Insomnia was a bitch and the reason Quinn McAllister hated working dayshift hours. She hated the dark. No, that’s wasn’t entirely true, she reasoned as her restless eyes moved through the dark yard and into the forested park across the street. She loved the dark, she just hated sleeping in it.

            Alana would have a field day with that, she thought and a small smile came to her face as she thought of her older sister. Her older, psychiatrist sister who had actually done something with her life. She brought forward the mental image of the pretty picture Alana usually made; expensive, professional clothes, beautiful long hair that seemed to flow around her flawless pale skin. There was a sharp pang of longing that came with the image and she felt so damn homesick.

            Alana was the only one out of three siblings that she talked to anymore. Quinn hadn’t spoken to their parents in even longer. She lifted the half-full tumbler of whiskey and took a swallow. Her eyes went to the clock over the fireplace mantle and she leaned her head against the wooden back of the rocker. Four thirty in the morning and he still wasn’t home.

            She was supposed to be at work in two hours. She brought the glass back up to her lips and took another deep pull, then refilled it from the bottle by her elbow. Quinn figured she wasn’t going to be going to work this morning. In fact, she decided, she wasn’t going to be going back at all. The rent check hadn’t come out yet, and she still had a good sized chunk of savings. It was enough to book the flight and get back home. Plus she had a good amount of overtime on her final check. She would just have to call them what was going on and give them a new address.

            Getting to her feet a little unsteadily, she surveyed the small home she’d made for herself and her absent husband. There was a part of her that was recoiling at the thought of being without him, but it was far outweighed by the rush of excitement at the thought of just leaving and never coming back. He was never home anyway. And when he was, he was a dick. A little giggle left her at the thought. He was a dick, she thought again and went into the master bedroom and flung open the closet doors.

            She’d bought everything in the house, but she didn’t want to take anything with her. He could have it. Painfully, she wondered in the cashier from the mini-mart he was fucking would appreciate her style, or if they would just end up throwing it all out to start fresh. Nah. She snorted. Jarod was too cheap to buy anything himself and the flighty bitch didn’t make enough to buy new things. In a way, that made her feel a little better knowing that they would both be forced to deal with her strong stamp on the place.

            Jerking the suitcase down from the top of the closet, Quinn stumbled back and sat down on the bed hard. Bouncing just a little, she laughed and realized that she was going to have to sober up a little if she was going to drive to the airport. Wait a minute. Blinking, she thought about the little ’69 Beetle that she had lovingly restored that was sitting in her driveway. If she flew out, she’d have to leave her car. Damn. Now, _that_ she didn’t want Jarod or his floozy having.

            Okay, so this required a little more planning than she’d originally thought. She eyed the glass of whiskey she’d placed on the dresser. Definitely time to sober up. Fuck flying. She was going to drive her happy ass out to her sister. She’d just done a tune up on her Beetle and it was running like a top. As soon as she made it to the bank, she’d have the cash. And if Alana wasn’t okay with her crashing at her place until she found employment, there was enough to rent a room or get a hotel until she could find something. Fuck, if Alana wasn’t okay with her staying with her, there was no reason she even had to go to Virginia. There was a lot of space between Washington State and the east coast.

            Abandoning the whiskey and the suitcase, she went into the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee. Slipping two slices of bread into the toaster, she then filled a glass with ice water. Pulling out her cell phone, she checked the time again. The east coast was three hours ahead. It would be about seven thirty where Alana was. Finger hovering over the picture next to her sister’s name, she took a deep, shaky breath and pressed it.

            Twenty minutes later and rapidly sobering up, Quinn was again standing in front of her closet. Her big sister hadn’t even hesitated. Of course she could come and stay with her. Of course she thought it was a good thing that she was finally leaving the jerk. And of course… of course, Alana didn’t think she was a waste of oxygen for staying with him despite all the warning signs. What was important was that Quinn was okay driving and that she kept her cell phone handy just in case Jarod came home before she left and there were problems.

            Those words had come as a bit of surprise to Quinn, especially from Alana. That was something she would have expected from one of her brothers, back when they were still speaking to her. Or when she was still speaking to them; somewhere along the line she’d forgotten who’d cut ties first. Her stomach hurt when she realized that she was the one that had taken shears to the family connection. They hated the man she’d chosen for her life-mate, for better or worse, and they hadn’t been quiet or kind about it.

            There was a hint of urgency building that she didn’t second guess. Only the essentials went into the suitcase- jeans, shirts, underwear, socks, bras, pajama pants, a couple skirts, and her favorite pair of flip-flops. A trip into the bathroom was in order and she stuffed her makeup bag and a few choice pieces of jewelry in on top. Zipping it up, she tucked it beside the front door and went to get herself dressed. No time for a shower, but she did brush her teeth before tucking her toothbrush and paste into a ziplock bag to take with her. A few of her favorite hoodies went into a backpack, and she dug out the one decent coat she owned. It was getting too late into fall and some of the states she was going to be traveling through were cold.

            When it was all said and done, she looked around the place she’d called home for the last seven years. She knew that the tears would come later, after she was long gone and she allowed herself the luxury of feeling again. Right now, however, she wanted to get out and away before she saw Jarod’s pickup pull into the drive. A couple hours ago, she would have loved to get in his face, to fight and claw and rip into him with everything she had. Now, though, she just didn’t have it in her. Not now.

            Tucking the suitcase into the trunk of her little Beetle, she stuffed a couple folded comforters and pillow into the back seat just in case. Then she stashed her purse on the passenger seat next to her and started the little car. The sun was just coming up over the horizon as she pulled out into the main intersection of the town she’d fallen in love with a long time ago. It was time to leave it all behind and go somewhere new. Well, somewhere else. It was past time.

*~*~*

            “Jack, I have a favor to ask of you.” Alana Bloom didn’t believe in beating around the bush when it came to asking for what she needed. Most wouldn’t believe it just by looking at her, but she was blunt and to the point in most dealings, and honesty really was one of her finer traits. It was a good thing that she had a quiet, gentle manner about her that softened the sometimes harsh reality.

            “I’m always wary when you open conversations like that, Alana,” Jack replied good naturedly and waved her into the seat across from his desk. “How can I help?”

            “My sister, Quinn, is on her way out here from Washington State and she’s going to need a job. I was wondering if you could find her something here. She has a good work record and a clean background. She’s going to be staying with me until she gets her legs back under her.”

            A little surprised, Jack leaned back in his chair and folded his hands in front of him. “What kind of work has she done?”

            “She’s worked in a titanium foundry for the last six years as a welder and before that, she did various office jobs.” Alana smiled at the look of surprise that flitted across Jack’s face. No doubt he was imagining someone like Alana working in a blue collar environment. “She says that the money just wasn’t in a desk job, and frankly she likes the more physical work.”

            “So why does she want to get back behind a desk? That’s pretty much all we have available here that pays decent right now for civilians.”

            “I’m asking for her,” Alana said, her smile turning sheepish. “I thought I’d surprise her with the opportunity when she gets here. Quinn isn’t the type to stay idle for long and I know she’ll want to hit the ground running. She’s practical and I’ve heard her say it a million times, ‘a job is a job’.”

            “Okay, I’ll tell you what,” Jack said, “I’ll get together a list of possible opportunities together and when she gets here, she can decide which ones she wants to go for. And I’ll put my recommendation on her resume.”

            “Have I told you lately how much I appreciate you?”

            “If you don’t mind me asking, why is she moving back out this way?”

            Alana grimaced and sighed. “Her husband isn’t the best human being in the word,” she said carefully. “She finally saw what everyone else did and decided she was ready to move on. It’s a fresh start for her.”

            “Good enough reason. I look forward to meeting her.”

*~*~*

            She was nearly halfway through Montana when it finally hit her. Closing her eyes against the welling tide of emotion, Quinn sat in the driver’s side of her Beetle and tried to breathe. She’d been running on fumes and determination all day and had finally decided it was time to stop and rest before she became a road hazard. Enough miles had been put between her and Jarod for her to be comfortable enough to pull in and find a hotel.

            Her first stop had been to a bank to drain the shared accounts and transfer everything to her own personal account that her husband didn’t have access to. And while she was there, she’d called and put a temporary hold on all shared credit cards, telling them that her wallet had been stolen. There was no time to go through the explanations and she barely blinked at the lie. After that, she had stopped to fill up the gas tank and buy more coffee and a map.

            Sitting in the parking lot of the gas station, she had highlighted the shortest route and tried not to think too hard on what she was doing. It was too late to go back. It had been too late long before she’d actually packed up to go. There had been no tears in the first leg of the trek. Quinn had felt like she’d already used them up during the war that her marriage had become.

            Now, two states away, she looked at her cell phone and the tears decided it was time to make a comeback. He hadn’t called her. There were no missed calls, no voicemail, and no texts. He probably hadn’t even been home to notice her gone. Hands gripping the steering wheel, her heart squeezed hard in her chest and she felt for a moment like her entire world was shattering. Seven years of marriage. She had put everything she had and more into making it work. He had been her world. For a long time, Jarod McAllister had been the reason she woke up every morning.

            Forehead falling forward to rest on the leather steering wheel, she closed her eyes and let the hurt wash over her. The sobs started slow, her shoulders heaving once, then again, then it was as if the floodgates were opened and she couldn’t stop it even if she tried. Not caring if anyone saw her, Quinn finally let the storm flow through her and out.

            After a while, it ebbed to a trickle and she just rested there for a couple minutes. Feeling hollow and very fragile, she leaned back against the seat and wiped at her face with the sleeve of her hoodie. “Okay, Q, now that you’ve had your cry, it’s time to get a room and sleep for a while. You have a long way to go.”

*~*~*

            By the time Quinn pulled her Beetle into her sister’s driveway, she was ready to kiss the ground and just lay in the manicured grass until someone carried her inside. She never wanted to be in a car that long ever again. True, she could have taken a bit more time to see the country, but it had felt good to put distance between her old life and her new. It had taken two days for Jarod to start calling her. Then it was like he was compelled to call every fifteen minutes. The voicemails had started out a little pissy: ‘Where are you? Come on, Quinn, quit joking around.’ Then a little worried. “Honey, I know you’re mad, but I’m getting a little scared that something happened. Call me back.’ Then angry. ‘You bitch. I got the eviction notice taped to the fucking door. Seventy-two hours to pay the rent. What the fuck, Quinn?’

            Smiling a little, Quinn had called Alana to give her an update, on her location, then shut off her phone. Now she pulled herself out of her car and stretched muscles sore from the long drive. Surveying the nice two story house in an upscale subdivision, she had to hand it to her sister. Alana always had a keen sense of style. A gated community in an area that Quinn never would have dreamed of living, the house was as unique as it could be and still fit in with the home owner’s association standards. Her yellow Beetle didn’t necessarily fit in with the hybrids and newer luxury cars parked in most of the driveways. Good, she thought with a smirk. It was her prerogative to be different.

            The front door opened and her big sister stepped out, looking just as posh and classy as their surroundings. Even dressed in jeans and a red top under a black sweater, Alana carried herself with a grace that made her look like a princess. At least, that’s how Quinn saw it. She felt very road worn and ragged but happy to be at her destination.

            “Q! Wow, I’m so glad you’re here.” Genuine happiness. Quinn soaked it up and started crying the moment her arms were around her soft, sweet smelling sister. It seemed like it had been so long sine someone had been happy to see her and not because there was something in it for them. She hadn’t realized how much she had needed it. “Oh, honey, it’s okay. You made it, you’re here.”

            “I know,” she whispered, squeezing once more then letting go. Her voice returned to normal volume and she declared dramatically, “Oh, God, you have no idea how good it is to finally be out of that damn car!”

            “I can imagine. Let’s get your stuff inside, babe. I made roast chicken and salad for dinner.”

            “Food? Real food?” Quinn wiped at her face with her sleeve, grinning goofily. “Have I mentioned that you’re my favorite person in the entire world?”

            “A couple times,” Alana laughed, then took Quinn’s keys to open the trunk. “I can’t believe you still have this thing!”

            “I’ve put a lot of work into it, Lana. Jesus Christ, I think it might have been cheaper to buy a new one. But it was something to keep my hands busy.”

            “I hear ya.” Alana studied her as she hefted the single suitcase out of the trunk. Quinn was leaner and harder than the last time she had seen her, which was almost four years ago. Not that it looked bad on her, it was just different. Her little sister had always been athletic, being the type to be continually on the go. Where Alana had been the brain that liked to sit on the sidelines and be the cheerleader, Quinn was the tomboy jock that had a hardcore competitive streak.

            Her brown hair was cut in a cute A-line style that was super short in the back with long, chin length side-swept bangs. The front was a dark burgundy that complimented her pale, freckled face, and the back was the same dark shade as Alana’s. They shared the same blue eyes and slim build, but Quinn was about four inches taller and had put on some nice muscle tone. “You look good, Q,” she commented as she watched her lean into the backseat to grab her bedding and backpack.

            Quinn laughed and shook her head, slinging the backpack over one shoulder. “It’s called manual labor and a nervous stomach.”

            “Do you still run?” Quinn had been a track star in high school and it had been a standing joke in their family that it had to be a brewing tornado and a simultaneous blizzard to keep her from the running trails.

            “Of course. Any good trails around here?”

            “I’ll show you in the morning,” Alana grinned over her shoulder as she carried the suitcase up onto the front porch, which was rather impressive for a house in a subdivision. Quinn noted the numerous potted plants, both hanging from the beams and lining the edges around the railing of the porch in bright clay pots. All of them were the hardy autumn plants that would be able to withstand the cold snap rapidly moving in. Or at least, Quinn thought they were. Plants didn’t like her very much. Even in season flowers died when they were around her too long. “Right now, let’s get you inside and settled in.”

            “Oh, my kingdom for a shower,” Quinn groaned, stepping into the foyer just a few steps behind. The amazing smell of roasted chicken mixed with a spicy apple cinnamon that came from the lit candles that lined the beautiful hardwood table that ran along the wall of the front hallway embraced all of her senses and made her eyes flutter closed for just a second. The entire house felt wonderful and the smell and feel of her blood family surrounded her. It felt like a million pounds of tension was lifted from her shoulders. It felt good and clean here. It had been so long since she had been in a place that was free from stress and the feeling that she needed to walk on eggshells just to avoid a confrontation.

            “No need for such a grand gesture, Q. Just make me a garbage omelet for breakfast tomorrow and you can not only have a shower, but you can have your own bathroom all to yourself.”

            “I love you,” Quinn breathed. “Oh, my God above, I love you. And if you’ve got the stuff for it, I’ll fix you one every day if you want it.”

            “I went shopping yesterday.” Alana chucked and led the way to the staircase off to the side. “I didn’t know what you brought with you but the bathroom is outfitted with girl shampoo and soap just in case you didn’t have time.”

            When they stepped into the bedroom at the back of the hallway, Quinn had to fight back more tears. It had nothing to do with the fact that the bedroom was really nice, or that she had her own bathroom, or even that she didn’t have to worry about her physical wellbeing for the time at hand. She would have been happy with a sleeping bag on the floor. It was just an overwhelming rush of love for her sibling. She and Alana had been close, the two youngest in a family of four, and the only girls. There was only a two year gap between them and they had been best friends until Quinn had met Jarod and gone her separate way.

            “Thank you, Lana,” she whispered, suddenly unable to speak clearly around the lump in her throat. She cleared it and tried to blink away the moisture gathering behind her eyelids.

            Alana turned around and pulled her back in for another long hug. Quinn leaned into the embrace, inhaling the light floral scent of her perfume. Holding on for a long time, she allowed herself to soak up the contact. “I’m gonna hit the shower, then I’ll be down to chow down on that amazing smelling chicken. Then I’ll tell you all about my bad acid trip of a marriage and the long as fuck drive out here. We might need beer.”


	2. Chapter 2

*~*~*

            “So while I was trying to turn my brain off enough to sleep at one of my few hotel stops, I half-assed looked into what was available for foundry work around here,” Quinn started after the food was served up and their glasses were filled with a dark brew Alana had produced out of unmarked bottles. She raised her fork up to her mouth and stopped talking, a low hum of appreciation rumbling in her chest. “Wow, this is amazing.”

            “If you think that’s good, taste the beer.” Raising her own glass, Alana touched the rim to Quinn’s in a toast.

            “Oh, my God.” Quinn took another swallow, allowing the rich, complex bitterness slide across her taste buds. “What brand is this?”

            “Homebrew. A colleague calls it my private reserve. He’s a bit of a gourmet and a master chef. Not to mention being a brilliant surgeon turned therapist. I’m sure you’ll meet him soon. And that brings us back to you looking for work.” Alana’s brow creased charmingly. “Kinda.”

            “I have a confession to make and you have every right to tell me to stuff it, but I went ahead and called in a favor with another… colleague. Jack Crawford is the head of the BAU in the FBI and I asked him to put a good word in for you there.”

            Swallowing hard, Quinn tried not to choke on the bite she’d just put in her mouth. “Are you kidding? Alana, I’m not even close to being the kind of person they want on the FBI payroll. I can’t do professional to save my life. There’s a reason I prefer working graveyard welding on chunks of metal.”

            “Hear me out, Q,” Alana said gently. “It wouldn’t be working as a field agent or anything like that. It’d be for office work, which you’ve done before. You have decent customer service when you want to, and you didn’t bring much clothing so it’ll be easy enough to pick up some more professional clothes. The benefits of working for the government are much better than you can find anywhere else, the pay is nothing to sneeze at, and you wouldn’t be killing yourself to earn it.”

            Taking a breath, she finished, “And like I said, you can tell me to stuff it if you feel the need. It’s an option and I know that you hate to be idle to too long. Really, I don’t care if you go to work right away. I have the room for you to stay indefinitely and I think we’ve missed each other badly enough that we won’t try to kill each other right away.”

            Quinn studied her plate, avoiding looking up at her sister’s face. She knew what she’d see there and her emotions were a little too raw. She wasn’t used to someone stepping in to help so readily. Overwhelmed, it was all she could do to not drop her face into her hands and start bawling. What the hell happened to the ‘no more tears left’ thing? They were supposed to be dried up and gone by now.

            A small, cool hand slipped into hers and she slowly raised her eyes up to meet familiar blue. Alana gave her a watery smile, “It’s okay to be upset, Q.”

            “Ugh, I’m tired of being upset. Damnit, it seems I’ve been upset for years.”

            “You wanna tell me about it?”

            Quinn shook her head, sniffling a little. “Not yet. Let’s eat this chicken and kick ass salad first, then kill off what you have of this brew. Or whatever else you might have that has a good alcohol content. Then we can lay on the couch and I’ll tell you all about it.”

            “Sounds like a deal.”

*~*~*

            After dinner they took a couple more bottles of the homebrewed beer with them to the living room where Quinn collapsed back into the comfortable leather sofa. Setting the extra bottles down on the coffee table but carrying her glass with her, Alana crossed to the discreet sound system built into the wall next to the entertainment center. Soon the earthy sound of Nina Simone came through the speakers and Quinn lifted her glass in a salute.

            “Perfect! Fuck, I’ve missed you, Lana.”

            “I missed you too,” Alana took her seat on the opposite side of the sofa, curling her legs under her lean leaning against the arm so she could face Quinn. “It’s been way too long since we’ve seen each other face to face.”

            Shame burned in her cheeks, and Quinn lowered her head to take a sip of beer. “I know. And I don’t have any kind of excuse.”

            “In abusive situations, it’s standard for the abuser to alienate their partner from any support they might have. Family, friends, even coworkers. It’s one of the first things they do to make it all about them.”

            Quinn felt a jolt of defensive anger rush through her and her fingers tightened on her glass. “Jarod wasn’t abusive.”

            “Hear me out.” There was a quiet command in her sister’s voice and she glanced up to watch her speak. Shoulders hunched, Quinn nodded and kept her mouth shut while Alana continued. “Tell me if any of this sounds familiar. When you guys first got together, everything was great. He was a misunderstood bad boy with a pretty smile and a sob story about a shitty home life.”

            So far so good, but Alana knew how their story started and Quinn didn’t think that should count. She topped off her glass, then Alana’s. “No one really approved of you dating him, but you ignored it all. What did they know? They just didn’t understand. He didn’t like anyone checking up on him all the time because his mother was a clinging drunk and it made him feel smothered. You didn’t want that. You wanted to be the one person that understood him. So you tried not to get upset when he wouldn’t answer your calls. When he stood you up, you reasoned that he was just really busy and he didn’t have an opportunity to let you know. Then, when he finally did come to see you, everything was all right because the cover story you invented in your head was the same one that he fed you.”

            Stomach getting tight, Quinn curled her arm around her middle and rested the frosted glass against her collarbone. “That changed when we moved in together, Alana. You know that.”

            “Did it,” Alana challenged, raising her eyebrows. She took a steadying breath. “Quinn, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to go all sister therapist on you. You came to me because you finally saw how unhealthy your relationship was and here I am battering you.”

            Quinn rubbed her eyes tiredly and felt a little of the defensiveness fall away. “No, I’m sorry. Old habits die hard. You’re right, and I know it. He started out a selfish bastard and he never changed. He never grew up out of that ‘misunderstood’ little boy. When everyone else told me he was no good and that I’d just end up getting hurt, we moved across the country. It was my idea, you know. I thought that if we made a new start away from everything familiar, just the two of us, that it would be better. I found work pretty quickly and so did he. We rented a house at the end of a tree-lined street. Then he started the same shit that he’d been doing here. As soon as I started really making money, he ‘lost’ his good job and went to working a shit job part time as a bouncer at a bar.”

            Alana watched Quinn drain her glass again and refilled it for her.

            “And of course, that led him to staying out all night, even after the bar closed. I could rationalize it because they closed up so late and he stayed to help them clean up.” Her laugh was a touch bitter and she rubbed at her temple tiredly. “Then I started hearing from my coworkers that he was being a little too friendly with the girls that frequented the bar. It’s a small town and everyone knows everyone else. You can see the progression from here. I confronted, we fought, I apologized. I was just being paranoid and everyone else was just being jealous assholes. They were miserable in their own lives so they had to break up a happy marriage to make themselves feel better.”

            “It was all bullshit. All of it- my entire life for the last fucking nine years. I couldn’t have figured it out in the two years we dated?” Angry tears stung again and Quinn felt a wash of self-hatred run through her. “Goddamn it, Lana, how could I have been so blind? Am I really that stupid?”

            “Oh, honey,” Lana gently set both their beer glasses down on the coffee table and pulled Quinn into another embrace. “No. You’re one of the smartest and bravest people I know. It was only a matter of time before you reached your limit. People like Jarod are masters of the manipulation game. They twist things around and around and around until you don’t know what’s up or down. What matters the most is that you got the strength to walk away.”

            “Run away,” Quinn sniffled into Alana’s shoulder. “I didn’t walk, I ran. I knew that if I stayed to fight it out with him, he would have talked me out of it.”

            “Semantics, Q. That’s all it is. The result it the same. And I am going to help you build a better life.”

            “Thank you,” Quinn whispered, closed her eyes and just rested in her sister’s arms.

*~*~*

            “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Quinn felt nervous and out of sorts standing on the front steps of the FBI headquarters at Quantico. Dressed in a black pencil skirt, red blouse, black sweater, and low heels, she felt like she was trying desperately to be something she wasn’t. The outfit wasn’t bad. It looked good on her, and paired with her usual thick eyeliner and red lipstick, she could have passed for a pinup model on her way to a calendar shoot. But it was far from the jeans and sneakers she was used to.

            With Alana’s help, she had sent in her resume for a few of the jobs on the list Jack Crawford had given them. It hadn’t taken a week for him to call to set up an interview. Apparently there was a new job opportunity that he wanted to offer her if the face to face went well.

            Running a clammy hand through the front of her hair, she heaved a nervous sigh and started up the steps. If she botched this too badly, she had a list of potential jobs she’d hunted up for herself; mechanic specialist at a nearby dealership, a couple of welding jobs through private companies, and of course, warehouse work. There was a part of her that hoped this interview failed. She knew that Alana was happy that Quinn’s natural competitiveness made it nearly impossible for her to purposely fail.

            Stepping inside the halls of the building, every click of her heels on the floor made her eye twitch. _“Just be yourself, Q. Jack might look intimidating, but he’s really a big teddy bear.”_ Oddly, Alana’s reassurance hadn’t been all that reassuring. Quinn was by nature a very open and what you see is what you get kind of person. She said what was on her mind and she knew that not everyone responded well to that kind of approach.

            She followed the directions Agent Crawford had given her and was soon standing in front of his office door. Too late to back out now. She knocked and waited for him to answer. A booming, “Come in” made her jump and she nervously pushed the door open.

            “Hi, I’m Quinn McAllister,” she said, holding her hand out to the imposing figure of a man that was doing her sister such a huge favor in even agreeing to look over her resume.

            “Glad to finally meet you, Mrs. McAllister.” Jack’s face broke into a toothy smile that took years off and made him look a lot less intimidating. “Do you mind if I call you Quinn? Alana has told me so much about you it seems a bit strange to call you anything else.”

            “I don’t mind, Agent Crawford. I’m sure we would have met sooner or later, knowing Alana.” Not relaxing, even when Jack gestured for her to take the seat across from his desk, Quinn felt a little nauseous. She didn’t feel right about having this kind of familiarity. Everything was going too easy. He was trying to put her at ease, and she appreciated it. It was just kind of weird. She hated knowing that the only reason she was even here was because Alana asked him to find her something. It didn’t have anything to do with her own skill set. She took a breath and did what she did best.

            “I have to confess that I’m here because Alana went through the trouble of talking with you to get a list of possible work for me. I don’t want to waste your time and I can’t pretend to be something I’m not. I’ve done office work before, and I’m fair at it. I can answer phones, file, and deal with dumbasses with a smile on my face. But most of my experience is under a welding hood working production. I make an excellent grease monkey putting broken cars back together.”

            His loud chuckle shocked her and Quinn looked up from where she had been focusing her eyes on her hands while she made her little speech. “You’ll do quite well, Quinn.”

            “Excuse me?” Quinn’s eyebrows shot up and her jaw dropped. This wasn’t what she’d been expecting at all.

            “A new job opportunity came up and I think that you’ll be the perfect person for it. I have an employee that is a profession at the training academy and he needs an assistant. He’s a bit of a special case.”

            “Special case, how,” Quinn asked suspiciously when Jack hesitated. She attempted a smile even though she was a bit confused. “It’s probably best just to tell me everything straight.”

            “Will Graham suffers from an empathy disorder,” Jack disclosed, “That’s what makes him so valuable as a teacher and as a field agent. He sees things from a unique perspective that not everyone can understand. As capable as he is, that disorder also makes it hard for him to stay focused and in the now. I’ve been meaning to assign him someone as an assistant; kind of like a teacher’s aide, only not just in the classroom.”

            “So, a personal assistant that goes with him everywhere?” Quinn didn’t know if she liked the sound of the offer. “Sir, I’m not…”

            “Believe me, you’ll see what I mean when you meet Will. He’s not really the easiest person to be around and his reputation precedes him. Most candidates would either be intimidated by him or treat him like a joke. I’m being very blunt with you because I think that’s the only way I can explain. I think you would be able to work with him in a way that would bring a nice balance.”

            Quinn thought about it, mulling it around. “And I would have a second interview with Mr. Graham before I started?” She hoped so. Her taking the job depended on how difficult a personality this man was. If he was too much of a jerk, all bets were off and she would apply at the garage.

            “He has a class this afternoon that should be getting out soon. I was thinking that we should go over there and talk with him now.”

            She blinked. “He doesn’t know about any of this, does he?”

            Jack smiled. “Sometimes the best way to deal with Will Graham is to not give him any warning.”

*~*~*


	3. Chapter 3

 

*~*~*

            The students were just filing out of the classroom when Quinn and Jack arrived. They had taken his car at Jack’s insistence. They would have to go back to iron out the details and fill out paperwork if she decided to take the job. Idle conversation on the drive over made her relax just a little, but it still felt like her insides were jumping.

            The minute Will Graham saw Jack, Quinn could see the tension nearly snap into his body. His posture changed and became defensive, eyes darting to and then away, and he quickly busied himself with stowing his laptop and papers into a leather case. Fuck. She was such a sucker. “Hello, Will. I have someone I want you to meet.”

            Blue eyes nearly hidden behind black frames darted to her face, then away, then back. There was a hint of recognition when she smiled at him. “You’re related to Alana,” he blurted, then a blush stained his scruffy cheeks. “I mean, you look a bit like someone I know. You have the same smile.”

            “Quinn McAllister.” Quinn held out her hand for him to shake, curious to see if he’d take it. “Alana is my big sister, even though she’s a bit of a munchkin.”

            His shoulders lost a little bit of tention and he took her hand in a brief but firm shake. “Will, Mrs. McAllister is going to be your new assistant at least on a trial basis to see how it goes.”

            “Assistant?” Will scowled and glared at Jack. “You mean, Dr. Lecter isn’t enough of a babysitter?”

            “She’s going to help you in the classroom as a teacher’s aide and in the field to make sure everything goes smoothly. And like I said, this is on a trial basis to see if it works out. There’s no permanent obligation for either one of you.”

            Quinn relaxed a little more and her grin was more genuine as she said, “Yeah, if it works out, great. If not, I’ve done my sisterly duty of trying for a government job o Alana doesn’t have to worry about me losing a limb in a freak accident involving an exploding welding tank. I’ve tried telling her that the risk is very minimal, but she doesn’t quite believe me.”

            Will looked at her like he didn’t know if she was joking or not. “Fine,” he said finally. “Trial basis, and we’ll have to sit down and go over schedules and exactly what you can do to help me.”

            He narrowed his eyes over at Jack. “Unless you have that all mapped out too?”

            “It’s all you two now,” Jack’s eyes shone with amusement. This was going to be interesting. They were either going to get along famously, or this was going to blow up in his face.

            “Okay, so I guess this means I have to fill out paperwork?” Quinn stuffed her hands into the small pockets on either side of her sweater. “And what kind of dress code do I have to follow?”

            “What do you usually wear?” Will asked. “If you’re going out to crime scenes with me, heels aren’t going to do you much good.”

            “Let’s put it this way, I’m more used to wearing mandatory steel toe shoes.” Quinn looked down at the outfit she was wearing. “If I walked into my old job wearing this getup, they’d tell me to go home and change.”

            “What line of work did you leave?” Will was genuinely curious, forgetting to be nervous.

            “How about you meet me for dinner and we can talk about everything we need to,” Quinn suggested. Her stomach had been too jumpy to eat much and it seemed like the perfect way to get to know the cute professor/profiler that she was going to be working with so closely. “I need to go back to get my car and fill out paperwork. How long should that take, Agent Crawford?”

            “Call me Jack. And we can fill out the paperwork tomorrow. It’s getting late and it’s important for you two to get these details sorted out. My job here is done.”

            “I’ll follow you back,” Will offered. “There’s a little deli a few blocks away from headquarters that I’ve been to a couple times.”

            “Sounds like a plan.” Quinn resisted the urge to take her shoes off to follow Jack back out of the classroom. Things had gone to a more comfortable level of professionalism, but she had to remember that she was s till working for the government and walking barefoot through the training academy wouldn’t make a good impression. She’d have to wait until they knew her a little better.

*~*~*

            Sitting down at a booth near the window, Quinn studied the menu quickly and found what she wanted almost immediately. Will already knew what he wanted without looking and cradled a cup of coffee in his hands to warm them. The deli was a cute mom and pop place that had minimal parking and a small but loyal customer base. The smell of fresh baked bread had hit her nose the moment they had stepped through the door and Quinn’s mouth had started watering.

            “Is that your Beetle?” Will jerked his chin at the small yellow car she’d managed to swing into a tiny spot at the curb.

            She closed the menu and her lips quirked up in a proud smirk. “Yup. That’s Buttercup. I bought her about five years ago and nursed her back to health. Restored almost from ground up; she was in rough shape.”

            “So, you’re a mechanic?” More at ease than he had been in a while, Will settled in to find out more about the woman that had been assigned as his sidekick. It rankled him that Jack felt the need to give him another keeper, no matter how unassuming she was. He wasn’t picking up any kind of falsehood from her. The moment they stepped into the small deli, her heels had come off with a satisfied mumble and she had shrunk from being at eye level with him to about three inches shorter.

            “I know enough,” she said, taking a long pull of her water. She leaned on her elbows and rubbed at her forehead. “I’m so glad today is done. I didn’t know what to expect when I went in to meet with Jack Crawford. I guess I still don’t know what the hell I’m doing here. I have to be honest, Professor. I’m not really a people person. I thought Alana was high when she suggested I put in for work with you guys. Am I capable? Yeah, I know _how_ to do all the necessary things to work in an office. I’m not completely brain dead when it comes to organizing and using computers. And I don’t make a habit of killing people. But I’m seriously not the skirt and heels type.”

            “Will,” he said, making her look at him in confusion. He smiled and it felt strange moving across his face. “Call me Will, please. We’re going to be working really closely and I don’t like titles.”

            “Awesome.” Her face softened with the easy grin and he noted that while she strongly resembled her sister, she had her own brand of beauty that was much more defined than Alana’s. Where his friend was the epitome of feminine professionalism, Quinn was harder and sharper. She was used to dealing with things by herself without help. Without realizing, he noted and catalogued everything he was picking up from her. When they gave their order, she flirted just a little with the young woman, sparkling eyes and flashing teeth. It didn’t mean anything. It was second nature for her to turn up the charm randomly and for no reason other than she felt like it. But that charm could disappear in a flash.

            Hard work came naturally to her, and she was proud of it. “Okay, so what kind of schedule do I need to follow? Is it a week to week thing, or is this a Monday through Friday gig?”

            “I have classes scheduled on a Monday through Friday basis, my first class usually starts around nine and I close out around three. Wednesdays are short days this term. If I get called out with Jack’s team, it’s completely random. He could call me at two thirty in the morning to catch a plane at dawn and we could be gone for two days or two weeks. All travel is paid for and there’s a per diem while we’re away.”

            Quinn felt a little bit of excitement at his words and she winked at the girl who brought their sandwiches. “So, set schedule, plus completely random schedule. Sounds really busy. I like it. I’m not a big fan of a lot of downtime.”

            He returned to his earlier question, “If you don’t mind me asking, what did you do for work before this?”

            “I was a welder at a titanium foundry in Washington State. We mostly made airplane parts and did military contracts. I was there for about six years. It was a very physical job with a ton of mandatory overtime.” She looked sad for a second, and focused on pulling the pickle spear off her basket and onto a separate napkin. “I worked third shift for about four of those years, so now I have a hard time sleeping at night. It’s good that we don’t have to start until later in the morning.”

            “I’ll need you to be there about eight so we can get set up. Where do you live?” Will focused on his own meal while they batted questions back and forth, unable to look at her while they spoke.

            “I’m staying with Lana for right now,” she answered and he glanced up to see her expression tighten slightly. “I’ve actually only been back for about two weeks.”

            “What about your husband? Is he staying with you at Alana’s?” There was a spike of pain and Will lost his appetite abruptly. He hadn’t realized that he had made such a strong connection to his new assistant. _Oh, God, please don’t let her cry._ He hated it when people cried, especially women. Especially when he was the one that made them cry with his usual lack of tact.

            A glance at her face told him that she was dry-eyed but solemn. The twist of her lips was a little bitter, and he jolted when he accidentally caught her blue eyes with his. “Yeah,” she said on a sigh, “Um, he’s the reason I’m here. Minimum details, he’s an ass and I couldn’t stay. I packed up Buttercup and hauled myself out here to make a new start. Alana’s helping me find a good lawyer to file for divorce. I’ll be going back to my maiden name of Bloom as soon as possible.”

*~*~*

            The first couple days were an awkward dance of figuring out exactly what Quinn’s job description entailed. Easy going as she was, she wasn’t used to just sitting around waiting for someone to need her. So she made up her own tasks while she half listened to Will’s lectures. It was interesting stuff, but she needed to move and do something to keep her occupied.

            Left with a bullshit, ‘here’s something to do, don’t bug me’ task, Quinn started going through the huge mess of old cases Will kept for reference material in his office. He wasn’t terribly disorganized, but it needed work. After doing a coffee run for both herself and for Will, just ordering two of what she liked and setting it on the podium on her way past, she settled into his desk and started sorting.

            By the time lunch rolled around, she had everything in neat piles according to crime. Looking up when she felt someone standing over her, she blinked at the blank look of shock on Will’s face. “What are you doing,” he demanded, his tone sharp and irritated.

            “Organizing,” she explained. She sat back in the chair and dropped her hands in her lap. “I needed something to do and you had a crappy system. Before you get all pissy, let me explain my method. If you hate it, I’ll put everything back and leave it alone.”

            Head jerking in a nod, he crossed his arms and waited for her to explain. “Okay, so it’s really simple because anything complicated would just annoy both of us. You had everything in a loose alphabetical order by last name. Good enough, I guess, but since you teach by theme, I started sorting by cause of death.” She put a hand on the first stack. “Strangulation.” The second, then the third, “Drowning, stabbing…. You get it.”

            “After this, it’ll go into alphabetical order according to the name of perpetrator and then victim.”

            “Makes sense,” Will had to grudgingly admit. He shoved his hands in his pockets.

            “Yeah,” Quinn agreed, “And it gives me something to do so I don’t set something on fire out of boredom.”

            She placed a hand on her stomach and smiled hopefully, “Is it lunchtime yet? I’m starved.”

*~*~*

            “She organized my office.” Hannibal Lecter watched Will as the profiler stared out the window overlooking the back garden. His friend was restless tonight, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans. He had started the conversation telling the therapist about his new ‘assistant’ that Jack had assigned to keep another eye on him.

            “The horror,” Hannibal responded dryly, the sarcasm making Will roll his eyes at him. It did a good job of coaxing a half smile out of him.

            “I like her.” Ah, so now they get to the reason for Will’s discomfort. “She’s not like Alana. Well, there are some things that they’re very much alike in. Her sense of humor is a bit sharper, but it’s still similar. You can tell they’re sisters.”

            “Does it bother you that she is Alana’s sister? I have not met her, but from pictures, it’s obvious that she shares a resemblance.”

            “No. At first, it did because I expected her to be more like Alana, if that makes sense. When she wasn’t, it was strange. Alana is softer, gentler in her approach. Quinn isn’t soft or gentle, she doesn’t sugar coat anything, but she’s very honest.”

            “Do you believe that Dr. Bloom is ever untruthful with you?”

            Will considered, then shook his head. “No, but she doesn’t say everything that she’s thinking. She filters a lot because she doesn’t want to hurt me. Quinn told me today that if I didn’t stop scowling at her she was going to stab me with her sharpie.”

            Hannibal raised his eyebrows. “She was joking, I presume.”

            His mouth moving into a full smile now, Will turned his back to the window to really look at the doctor. “Of course. She said it to lighten up the mood, and it worked. She does that a lot; says completely inappropriate things to break the tension. It reminds me of Beverly Katz, actually.”

            “It sounds like she is a good influence, then, if she is distracting you from the darkness of your thoughts.” Hannibal didn’t know if he liked that. He had heard from a gloating Jack Crawford that he had put the perfect person in to work with their secret weapon and that she had already done wonders toward keeping the young man on his toes. He would have to meet her soon and see for himself what kind of adversary he was working with.

            “I guess,” Will admitted, but he still looked troubled. “I don’t like making friends. I’m not good at it.”

            “It sounds as if your assistant has other ideas.”

 

*~*~*

 


End file.
